Zajc, who turned 18 in late April, made this World Cup debut last year. He doesn’t have the fondest memories of his first appearance in Wisla, where he was disqualified. But he ended up performing well during the rest of the season, in which he ended up 32nd with 88 points. “I made my World Cup debut in Wisla last year, and I was a bit nervous because I didn’t know what lay ahead of us. This year, I’m already familiar with the whole affair and I’ll be able to approach it in a more relaxed way. I’m now able to see the World Cup season as a single entity, unlike last year, when I worried whether each competition would result in points. I hope I’ll perform better than last year,” said the talented ski jumper from Hramše in the Lower Savinja Valley.

He is entering the winter season in the wake of successful summer jumps; he was the best Slovenian jumper overall during the summer Grand Prix season. He ended up in 13th place with jumps in five of the nine competitions. His best place came in Courchevel, where he was fourth. Even though summer results are often a poor indication of the winter season, Zajc believes that they must mean something: “Of course, your expectations are higher if you performed well in the summer season. The summer jumps give some indication. After all, most of the ski jumping superpowers – the Poles in particular – have jumped well both in the summer and in the winter season for the past several years and have only improved in the World Cup. I believe I can look ahead to the winter season with full confidence.”

“I didn’t have any set goals when it comes to the results, but I do have some wishes. Quite simply, I want to be as good as possible. I’d like to be among the top 10, but I don’t have any specific targets – tenth or fifth place, for instance. Consistency is my foremost wish. I want to be relaxed in the competitions. I don’t want to do things differently when I compete; I’ll just try to recreate my best jumps. I believe that my recent practice sessions went well. Our last training season was on ice in Planica; it went well and that means I can be relaxed ahead of my Wisla debut,” added Zajc, who will be disappointed if he doesn’t earn any points at this year’s first World Cup competition.

Mogel can’t wait for his World Cup debut
Mogel would also be happy to make the final round. He will also make his World Cup debut on the ski jump that carries the name of the legendary Adam Malysz. “I’ll try to do my best in Wisla, I’ll try to be as relaxed as possible, but I don’t want to burden myself too much with the results. After all, this is my first competition and I’ll set my goals after the first few events,” said the promising ski jumper, also a native of the Savinja Valley. The young man from Letuš performed well in the Continental Cup this summer, where he tied for second place with Philipp Aschenwald of Austria. He will be the seventh player for Slovenia in the first phase of the upcoming World Cup.

“I surprised myself a bit because I didn’t expect to perform as well during the summer season. When I started to perform well and continued to improve in the fall, this gave me an added boost for the winter season. I believe that the recent jumps were all on a high level and that they were consistent,” said the junior from the France Prešeren High School in Kranj. It was a week ago when he learned that Bertoncelj included him on his list of competitors for Poland. Mogel can hardly wait for his World Cup debut. The second-ranked Slovenian is also familiar with the Wisla ski jump. After all, it was here where he first made the podium in the Continental Cup back in August.

“I still feel some nervousness, but it’s the positive kind. I don’t sense any fear that could hinder my jumps. I hope that the ski jump in Wisla is prepared well and that we’ll have a good competition in store. I haven’t set any goals as far as the results are concerned. I’ll simply try to jump as well as I can. I’d be satisfied with earning some points in my first competition. As far as the rest of the season is concerned, I’ll try to qualify for the World Cup competitions as frequently as possible. I know that only good jumps can make that happen. I’ve found my place in the team. My fellow competitors have welcomed me nicely and we get along well. We’re a young team and our atmosphere is relaxed,” added Mogel, who turned 17 in March, and was by far the youngest competitor at the Grand Prix in Klingenthal, where he had qualified with his debut performance in the qualifying round before high winds ended up canceling the race.